Intelligence Report: Bears' Hurd had to give up guns

The ABC-7 I-Team has learned that when the Chicago Bears' Sam Hurd was busted on drug charges he had to post more than just money to get out of the federal lock-up.

In this Intelligence Report: The small arsenal of guns that Hurd had to surrender.

Wide receiver Sam Hurd, now formerly of the Chicago Bears, agreed to surrender numerous guns to federal authorities as a condition of his being freed on bond.

Hurd turned over the guns, including an assault rifle, about the same time last Friday that a $100,000 cashier's check was posted and he was released.

"Sam's a father, Sam's a husband," said Hurd's attorney Brett Greenfield. "He's a good teammate. He's a good friend."

Hurd is also a gun owner--or he was at the time he was arrested last week and charged in a multi-kilo cocaine and marijuana case.

Twenty-six-year-old Hurd was apparently not armed outside Morton's Steakhouse when federal agents took him into custody last Wednesday.

However, according to federal court records, at some point after that, U.S. Immigration and Customs officers determined Hurd had numerous guns at the Lake Forest home where he was living with his wife and daughter.

An AR-15 was among the firearms that Hurd had to surrender as a requirement of his bond. The semi-automatic assault rifle owned by Hurd is the civilian version of the full-auto, military issue M-16.

Bond records obtained Tuesday by the I-Team state that "defendant [Hurd] shall turn over AR-15 rifle and all shotguns in his possession to agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security within 24 hours of defendant's release."

Reached by phone in California on Tuesday, Hurd's attorney said the ex-Bear had the guns for the same reasons anyone else would and said, "Maybe he is a collector."

State police officials say Hurd, who lived in Texas until last August, would be in violation of Illinois gun laws if he did not obtain a Firearm Owners Identification Card after moving.

Five years ago another Chicago Bear, Tank Johnson, was charged with not having a gun owners ID after police raided his Lake County home and found six firearms. A few days later Johnson's bodyguard was shot and killed in a nightclub fracas. Like Sam Hurd, Johnson is currently between NFL teams.

Firearm owner information is not public in Illinois, so it is impossible to verify quickly whether Hurd had a FOID Card or not. However, considering the processing time and backlog of gun applications, one state police source says it is unlikely Hurd would have been able to obtain a card.

Since bonding out, Hurd has been in Lake Forest with his family. They were seen attending church services together on Sunday.